Utility customers would see an estimated $1.4 billion in savings, including $600 million in refunds, in a proposed settlement over costs tied to the shuttered San Onofre nuclear power plant in Southern California, officials said Thursday.

A consumer advocate division of the California Public Utilities Commission doesn’t believe utility customers should have to deal with the massive costs related to the shutdown of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.

A federal panel Monday sided with environmentalists who have called for lengthy hearings on a plan to restart the ailing San Onofre nuclear power plant — a decision that further clouds the future of the twin reactors.

The California Public Utilities Commission will investigate the nine-month outage at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station and whether residents should continue to pay rates for the crippled plant.

Southern California Edison officials said Monday they plan to cut 730 employees at the ailing San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, a decision that follows two years of analysis that included comparisons to similar nuclear plants.

The operator of an idled nuclear plant on the California coast announced Thursday that more unusual wear has been found on tubing that carries radioactive water, the latest disclosure in an ongoing mystery involving the plant’s steam generators.